A chart is a technique of displaying data using pictures and graphical
representations instead of numbers or simple words. It works by drawing figures
that would represent numbers, adding colors and shapes to the information
presented.

Good created and formatted charts can help people and businesses make decisions based on the impact that
the images provide. Data analysis on charts is done using graphics that present
pictures. In addition to the pictures, you can add words, also called labels to
indicate what the pictures represent.

Because a chart is used to present data in a graphical format, before creating
a chart, you should plan it. That is, you should prepare it. There are two
pieces of information you should have before starting: The numbers that you want
to represent and the type of chart you want to use.

Creating a Chart

The information used to create a chart usually come from two or more cells of a
worksheet. Before creating a chart, you should prepare
it so it can be easily recognizable. Data used on a chart can be made of natural
numbers or percentage values. You can also
present a series of repeating words and let the chart engine count the
occurrences of such words before using them as numbers.

To start a chart, after selecting the cells, on the Ribbon, click Insert. In the
Chart section, click one of the buttons to display the available types of charts,
then select one of them. After making your selection, a chart would be created
for you.

To present its information more efficiently, a chart
is made of different sections. The main area allows users to view the
graphical display of data. A legend explains the meaning of various colors
on the chart. A title indicates what the chart is used for.

Practical Learning: Creating a Chart

Open the Altair Realtors1.xlsx workbook

Click the Sales by Types tab and select Cells B5:E6

On the Ribbon, click Insert

In the Chart section, click the Column button. In the menu that appears, click the
very first option on the top-left side: Clustered Column

Save the workbook

The Characteristics of a Chart

A Chart and its Container

A chart cannot reside on its own. It needs a container
which is a worksheet. By default, after selecting the cells and starting
to create a chart, the chart is created in the same worksheet where the
values were selected. If you want, you can put the chart in another
worksheet. To do that, right-click the chart and click Move Chart... A
dialog box would display:

To put the chart in an existing worksheet, select it
in the Object In combo box. To display it in a brand new worksheet, click
the New Sheet radio button and specify the name in the top text box.

Practical Learning:
Moving a Chart

Right-click the border of the chart and click Move Chart

Click the top text box and replace the name with Sales by Types Summary

Click OK

The Sections of a Chart

To present its information, a chart is made of various sections:

Most or every one of these aspects can be hidden,
displayed or changed. To perform any action on these parts, you can
right-click a section or an object on the chart and click a Format... option.

Editing the Values of a Chart

As mentioned already, to create a chart,
you select values from some cells of a worksheet. When analyzing data using a chart, you
may want to use "What If" scenarios. For example, if you are viewing
the numbers of students per gender in a school and one gender is predominant,
you may want to view the tendency if the number of members were the same for
both members, if the members of the predominant gender were even more, or if the
members of the other gender were predominant. Therefore, during data analysis,
you can change the values used by the chart.

To change the values used for a chart, click the appropriate
cell on the worksheet and type the desired value. When you do this, the chart
would be automatically updated.

Practical Learning: Editing the
Values of a Chart

Click Sales by Types. Click Cell D6 and type 5

Click Cell E6 and type 18

Click the Sales by Types Summary tab sheet and notice that the chart
has changed

Save the workbook

A Chart's Legend

To show what the graphics on a chart represent, a chart
is accompanied by an object on a side called a legend. The legend is made of
at least one small square box of the same color of at least one of the graphics
on the chart:

In this case, the legend contains one item labeled Total
Sales.
Because the legend represents a graphic of the chart, when you make a change
on that graphic, the legend is updated. Still, you can change the legend if
you want.

To make changes to the legend, on the chart, right-click the legend:

To change the font:

Use the buttons on the toolbar

Click Font... and use the Font dialog box

To change other aspects of the legend, click Format Legend... This would
display the Format legend dialog box

Make the changes, and click Close.

If you do not want to use a legend, you can delete it.
To remove the legend:

Click the legend and press Delete

Right-click the legend and click Delete

Practical Learning: Using a Chart's Legend

Right-click Count

From the toolbar that appears, click the arrow of the Font Name
combo box and select Garamond

Right-click Count again. On the toolbar, click the arrow of the Font
Size combo box and select 20

Click the Bold button

Click the arrow of the Color combo box and select Red

Right-click Count and click Format Legend...

In the left list, make sure Legend Options is selected. In the right
list, under Legend Position, click the Bottom radio button

Click Close

The Title of a Chart

To indicate what it is used for, a chart can be
equipped with a title. The title is a string that typically displays in
the top section of a chart. In some (rare) cases, a title can also be
positioned on the left or the right sides, above or below the chart. To move the title,
on the chart, click and drag the title in the
desired direction.

To change the text of the title, click inside it and
edit its text. To format the title:

To make changes to the legend, on the chart, right-click the legend:

To change the font:

Use the buttons on the toolbar

Click Font... and use the Font dialog box

To change other aspects of the title, click Format Chart Title... This
would display the Format Chart Title dialog box

Make the changes, and click Close.

If you do not want to use a title, you can delete it.
To remove the title:

Click the title and press Delete

Right-click the title and click Delete

Practical Learning: Formatting a Chart's Title

Click inside the Count label on top and edit it to display Sales Per Type

Right-click the title

From the toolbar that appears, click the arrow of the Font Name
combo box and select Courier New. Click the arrow of the Font Size combo box and select
28

Click the arrow of the Color combo box and select Red

Save the workbook

Chart Figures

To represent its numbers, a chart draws
some geometric figures, depending on the type of chart. These figures can
be rectangles, pie slices, triangles, cones, etc. To paint these figures,
by default, the chart
engine uses some colors from its own list. You can
either change these colors or apply some preset drawings available. You
can also design and use any custom picture to paint the chart's shapes.

To
format the geometric figures of a chart, you can right-click one of them
and click Format Data Series...

By default, when you have
just created a chart that uses one column for its values, Microsoft Excel applies the same formatting, such as the
same color, to all of its figures. You can keep that common color or change the
color of each individual shape. To change the formats of a shape, right-click it
and click Format Data Point. This would display the Format Data Point dialog
box:

Make the changes and click Close.

Practical Learning: Formatting a Chart's Shapes

Right-click the left rectangle on the chart and click Format Data Point...

In the Format Data Point dialog box, in the left list, click Border
color

In the right list, click Solid Line

Click the Color button and click Dark Blue, Text 2, Darker 25%

In the left list, click Fill

In the right list, click Gradient Fill

Click the Preset Color button and click Ocean

In the Type combo box, select Rectangle

Click the Direction button and click the From Center button

Click Close

On the chart, right-click the middle rectangle and click Format
Data Point...

In the Format Data Point dialog box, in the left list, click Fill

In the right list, click Picture or Texture Fill

Click the Texture button and click Granite

Click Close

Save the workbook

Chart's Labels

By default, when a chart is drawn, it is equipped with
shapes and a separate legend. If you want, you can display the value of
each part and possibly its name close to it. This is done through a label.
On a large chart, a label can also be used in the absence of a legend. In
fact, you can delete a legend and simply make use of a label.

To add the labels to a chart, right-click a shape on the
chart and click Add Data Label. To remove an existing chart label,
right-click it and click Delete.

Practical Learning: Adding
Labels to a Chart

On the chart, right-click the right box and click Add Data Label

Save the workbook

The Chart's Background

You can enhance the appearance of a chart by drawing a background wall behind it. The wall is just a graphical
object. By
default, the background of a chart is painted in white. You
can use a different color to paint it, a design pattern or a picture to
cover it.

To add background wall to a chart, right-click the chart and click Format Chart Area... This would open
the Format Chart dialog box where you can make the necessary
changes.

Practical Learning: Formatting a Chart's Walls

Right-click a white area of the chart and click Format Chart Area...

In the left list, make sure Fill is selected.
In the right list, click Picture or Texture Fill

Click the Texture button and click Newsprint

Click Close

On the chart, right-click a white are between two boxes and click
Format Plot Area

In the left list, make sure Fill is selected.
In the right list, click No Fill and click Close

Save the workbook

Types of Charts

Introduction

In our introduction to charts, we created one with
standing rectangular boxes. This is called a column chart and is only one
of the types of charts available. Microsoft Excel (indeed Microsoft
Office) provides many other flavors you can use, depending on the type of
analysis you want to perform. To select a type of chart, after selecting
the cells on a worksheet, on the Ribbon, click Insert. In the Chart
section, click one of the buttons to see its options and select from the
list.

After creating a chart, to change its type, right-click the
chart and click Change Chart Type. This would open the Change Chart Type dialog
box where you can select a different type.

The Types of Values of a Chart

When you select the cells of a worksheet to create a graph, by default, the application
counts the number of occurrences of each value, especially if you select some string-based
cells. Depending on the type of chart as we will see in the next
few sections, some charts can use regular numbers while some others are better
with percentage values. Fortunately, instead of trying to figure out how to
perform the calculations yourself, Microsoft Excel can do it for you.

Types of Charts: Column Charts

Introduction

As we have seen already, a column chart creates vertically standing rectangular
boxes. Each box can be used to represent an integral, a decimal, or a percentage
value. When creating such a chart, you specify the values to use. Microsoft
Exccel determines the highest and the lowest values. When the boxes are drawn,
each must fit in the area allocated for the chart. As a consequence, the box
that represents the highest value is also the tallest while the box for the
lowest value is the shortest. Microsoft Excel draws the other boxes between
these extremes but proportionately. Therefore, a column graph is used to compare
values in increment.

Double-Column Charts

The classic column chart is made of flat bars that simply illustrate
maximal, minimal, and in-between values. One of the options allows you to create a
3-dimensional look of the chart and further accentuate the colors and/or other graphic
effects. To enhance an effective analysis, you can create a real 3-D chart that
shows data and graphics in perspective.

Another variance of the column chart is to show two columns for each sample value.
For example, in our real estate application, imagine that you have the market
value for each property and the value the property was sold for, one of the
effects of a sale is that some properties would be sold for the same market
value, some properties would be sold for a lower value (for example, the seller
may want to get rid of the house and be willing to assist the buyer with a down
payment and closing cost, thus lowering the price of the house), some other
properties could be sold higher than the advertised value (for example, a
customer may want to insist on having the house, even at a high price, or too many
people could be suddenly interested in the same house, this could raise the
price). At the end of the year, when doing an inventory or an evaluation of some
sort, you may want to know what houses sold high and which ones sold low.

3-D Column Charts

So far, we have used what are referred to as flat charts.
They can be drawn on a 2 dimensional coordinate system. To enhance the
appearance of a chart, you can draw it in 3 dimensional coordinate system (x, y,
z). If you want to draw 3-D chart, you must select three series of cells. Two of the
series should hold categories of values and the other one can hold unique
values. The two series that hold categories of values should have corresponding
values so that, a value from one series can have corresponding values in the
second series. Here is an example. Imagine that, in a real estate database, you
have been selling properties over a period of 1, 2, 3 or more years. The
properties sold are categorized as single families, townhouses, and
condominiums. Obviously in a particular year, you sell properties of all kinds.
On the other hand, each property can have its own value. You can use these three
sets of values to create a 3-D chart.

The cone, cylinder, and pyramid charts can be used in the same scenario as the column
char. Their 3-D visual effect can enhance the overall analysis of
data.

The cylinder chart creates long circular boxes of the same base on both ends. It can be enhanced with good formatted Fill Effects. This chart is suitable for industry, manufacturing analysis, and
predictions.

The cone chart is made of a circular base topped by a higher point. When used with various data, the higher values will have the complete cone while the lower values will share portion of the geometric figure. The cone chart should be used with values that can take advantage of its graphing
dimensions.

The pyramid chart resembles the cone chart with a difference on their respective
bases. Both are constructed the same and can be used in similar
scenarios.

When creating the chart, there are many aspects you can
change for it. For example, you may have a chart where the figures in the front
seem to hide those in the back:

Or there is too much room on one side. You can rotate the
chart. To do this, click one of the borders of the walls of the chart to select
its frame. Then click one of the handles on the frame and hold the mouse down.
The actual frame of the chart would appear:

You can then rotate the chart in the direction of your
choice. You can keep doing this, releasing the mouse to preview, then rotating
again, until you get the desired orientation.

If you created the chart as one shape (cylinder, cone, or
pyramid) but want to use another shape, you can change it.

Bar Charts

A bar chart uses the same theories and scenarios as the column chart except that
its rectangular boxes are horizontal. Like the column chart, the bar chart is used to compare values of the same category on a common scale.
You create a bar chart using the same process as the Column,
except that you should select the Bar Chart on the Ribbon.

As done for the column chart, when specifying the
values of a bar chart, use a series of cells that have frequent occurrences of the
same values.

Types of Charts: Line Charts

Introduction

A line chart is used to analyze ups and downs of a tendency in a range of values. You can define it with one series of values where you will judge the evolution of an item over a period. When used with more than one series, this chart can
be helpful in comparing values of the same category over the same period.
The line chart can also be used to analyze values that do not share the same periodic variable. For example, you can use it to compare library attendance with regards to the real population number (which could be in hundreds of thousands or millions) with the number of people attending the library. In the latter situation, if the same
axes are used to analyze, one category will almost disappear from the chart; the alternative is to separate
the axes on the same
chart.

Trend Lines

A trend line is a line added to a chart created as a column or else. It can be used to
show the high points of the various values on a chart. A trend line is not a
type of chart. It is only added to an existing chart to accentuate its
tendencies.

To add a trend line to a chart, after creating a chart, right-click one of the
column categories and click Add Trendline... This would add a line to the chart
and open the Format Trendline dialog box.

After creating a trend line, you can change its characteristics. To do this,
right-click the trend line and click Format Trendline... This would open the
Format Trendline dialog box that you can use for various reasons, including
specifying the color of the line.

Types of Charts: Pie Charts

Introduction

A Pie chart is used to show percentage and/or fractional values.
When creating, you can choose the values as you see fit. Microsoft Excel would identify each value in the
series and create categories for them.
After getting the categories, the application would calculate the
percentage for each category based on the sum of all the values, the total
count of categories, and the fraction that each category shares.

The default appearance of a pie chart is a circle with
each category taking a pie in the whole. One of the variances of the chart
displays in three dimensions that uses two ellipses. The top ellipse is
the most visible and shows the format of each chart. Only part of the
bottom ellipse is shown.

Doughnut Charts

A Doughnut chart is an alternative to the Pie chart as
both use the same types of values. The main difference between both types
of charts is that a Doughnut chart can include more than one series of
values.